Electric gas-lighting



(No Model.)

0 5 n M in mm D Dm G R M t O Du E No. 242,693. Patented June 7,1881.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEROME BEDDING, OF MALDEN, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND HARVEY BEDDING, OFEVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC GAS-LIGHTING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,693, dated June 7,1881.

Application filed February 21, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JEROME BEDDING, ofMalden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain Improvements in Electric Gas-Lighting, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to the method of electric gas-lighting in which apiece of platinum located over the tip of a gas-burner within the spaceoccupied by the flame is made red-hot or incandescent by electricity,and so caused to ignite the gas.

Heretofore it has been considered necessary in some apparatus to makethe platinum incandescent wholly by electricity, and the method hastherefore been found expensive and comparatively difficult to carry outsuccessfully when a large number of burners are to be simultaneouslylighted, for the following reasons: First, if battery-currents areemployed to heat the platinum, a very large and expensive battery isrequired to obtain sufficient strength of current to sufficiently heatthe platinum strips or wires of a large number of burners; secondly, ifcurrents generated by a dynamo-electric machine are employed, much poweris required to generate a current of sufficient strength, and there isdanger of melting and destroying the platinum strips or wires by thecombined action of the current and the gas-flame, if the current ismaintained too long after the gas is lighted.

My invention has for its object to provide a method of heating theplatinum which shall be free from the objections and difficulties abovenamed; and to this end it consists in, first, an electric gas-li ghtin gsystem having a gas-burner, a platinum wire located in an electriccircuit, and a slip or pieoeof platinum projecting from said wire intothe space occupied by the gas-flame, so that said platinum may be heatedby electricity to a point short of incandescence and be renderedincandescent by and capable of igniting the gas issuing unignited fromthe burner.

My invention also consists in the employment of an electroniagnet havinga neutral armature for operating the gas-cock with a step-by-step motionin turning on or shutting off the gas, and a polarized armature toarrest the turning of the gas-cock when the same is entirely opened orentirely closed. The gascock has a ratchet-wheel, and the neutralarmature is connected to a bell-cranklevercarrying a dog engaging withthe ratchet-wheel and moving the same the distance of one tooth wheneverthe neutral armature is attracted. The polarized armature is adapted toassume either of two positions, according to the polarity of theexciting-currents. When in one position it arrests a pin on the ratchetwhen the cock is entirely open, and when in the other position itarrests another pin on the ratchet when the cock is entirely closed. Anoperator at a central station is therefore enabled to insure thecomplete opening or closing of all the gas-cocks in the circuit bygiving a greater number of impulses of one polarity than is required tofully open or fully close the cooks, and thus provide against anoccasional failure of one of the dogs to operate its ratchet, thepolarized armature preventing the cooks from being moved too far by theextra number of impulses, in case such failure to operate does notoccur.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents an elevation of a gas-cock embodying my invention,showing a side view of the cock-operating ratchet, and Fig. 2 representsan edge view of said ratchet.

The same letters of reference relate to the same parts in both figures.

In the drawings, (t represents the burner, and b represents a piece ofplatinum or platinum sponge to ignite the gas, the platinum beinglocated wholly or in partin an electric circuit. The platinum b may be asingle piece in the form of wire arranged directly in the circuit, ifdesired; but I prefer to make it in two parts, as shown, one part beingthe wire 1, located directly in the circuit and outside the spaceoccupied by the flame, and the other being a slip, 2, attached to thewire 1 and projecting laterally therefrom into the space occupied by theflame, and therefore out of the circuit. By this latter arrangement thatportion of the platinum through which the current flows is en tirelyoutside of the flame and not liable to be burned off. Ordinary platinummay be employed, or platinum sponge, or the alloy known asplatinum-iridium,or, in fact, any metal or alloy which is capable ofbeing heated to redness in the manner described. The platinum, as beforestated, is preferably about an inch and one-half from the tip of theburner.

0 represents the ratchet on the arbor of the gas-cock a.

01 represents the electro-magnet.

6 represents the neutral armature attached to a bell-crank lever, f,which is pivoted at ito a fixed support.

j represents the dog, which is pivoted to the lever f and engages withthe teeth of the ratchet.

it represents a polarized armature arranged to vibrate between thelateral poles Z l of the electro-magnet, and provaded with arms orbifurcations k k at its upper end, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to projecton both sides of the ratchet.

m m represent pins located at diametricallyopposite points on theratchet, and projecting respectively from the outer and inner sides ofsame.

When the polarized armature is attracted by the pole l of theelectro-magnet its arm k is in position to arrest the pin m on the outerside of the ratchet, and when the polarized armature is attracted by thepole l its arm 75 is in position to arrestthe pin m on the opposite sideof the ratchet. When the pin on reaches the arm It the cock is supposedto be fully closed, and cannot be opened until the polarity of thecurrents exciting the magnet (l is reversed.

When the gas is to be turned on, the operator at a central stationreverses the polarity of the exciting-currents and sends a sufficientnumber of impulses to bring the pin m to the arm k of the polarizedarmature, each impulse operating the dog j and rotating the ratchet 0the distance of one tooth; but as the dog is liable to occasionally failto engage a tooth of the ratchet it is obvious that the operator maysend a greater number of impulses without moving any of the cocks toofar, thus insuring the full opening of all the cooks and the bring ingof all the cooks to unison.

When the gas is to be turned off the polarity of the exciting currentsis again reversed and the operation repeated until the ratchets arearrested by the arm k of the polarized armature.

I do not limit myself to the employment of a polarized armature as aunison device or stop for the gas-cocks, as other mechanism or devicesoperated electro-mechanically from a central station may be employed tosecure the unison of all the gas-cocks without departing from the spiritof my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In an electricgas-lighting system, the combination of a gas-burner, a platinum wirelocated in an electric circuit, and a slip or piece of platinumprojecting from said wire into the space occupied by the flame,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In an electric gas-lighting system, the combination of a gas cockprovided with a ratchet, an electro-inagnet having a neutral armature tooperate the ratchet through suitable intermediate mechanism, and apolarized armature adapted to arrest the cock either when full y openedor fully closed, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an electric gas-lighting system, a gascock having a ratchet-wheel011 its arbor operated step by step from a distant station, incombination with a unison-stop composed of an electrically-operatedforked lever, and pins on the ratchet-wheel to arrest the rotation ofthe cock when the same is fully opened and fully closed, as and for thepurpose specified.

In testimony \vhereofl have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this 16th day of February, A. D.1881.

JEROME BEDDING.

Witnesses:

O. F. BROWN, H. G. WADLIN.

